Sunday, August 05, 2007

Camping = new hat?


Doesn't a plan to go camping in a couple weeks qualify as a legitimate excuse to abandon current WIP/UFO knitting in order to be properly accessorized for a foray into the flora and fauna of Northern Minnesota?

After all, the Ribbon Cardigan is hardly camping attire. And the new socks on the needles are slated for campfire knitting time. I would never carry any of my felted bags that are oh, so close to completion into the wilderness. And all this dishcloth cotton was just sitting around, not being used. It just made sense to make a new hat out of it, since the dish cloths just weren't getting done around here.

Okay, I'm not apologizing for my flightiness . . . I'm just yanking your chains a little.

I am thrilled with my new hat. I've been very dissatisfied with my appearance in baseball style caps. They just aren't flattering AT ALL. But our first official family camping trip would require a hat that would keep the sun out of my eyes and protect my face from burning but could be tucked away in a pocket when not in use.

After some searching through my extensive knitting library, I found the right pattern in the Summer 2007 issue of knit.1. The Sugar 'n Cream yarn was some bought on sale awhile back for washcloths and seemed suitable enough for a blue jeans/sweatshirt kind of weekend in the wilds.

The DH, however, thinks it's a little too light in color. What do you think? Should I over dye it?

Also, being cotton, what kind of dye would work on it? Everything I've dyed has been protein fibers, so I'm a little unsure if cellulose fiber would react the same way to the dye stuff I have on hand (food coloring, drink mix or tea/coffee).

After all, who wants strange colored streaks on their forehead, where sweat has caused the dye to release. I need serious advice here.

Help!?!

1 comment:

Sheepish Annie said...

Personally, I would stay with the lighter color. It will keep you cooler as I understand the whole "light reflection/light absorption" thing.

Dyeing cotton is easy. RIT dye from the grocery store will work or a procion dye from the craft store. (as opposed to an acid dye which is what you'd use with a protein fiber) I'd suggest picking up some Sythropol as well. This is made by Jacquard and seems to be available at most craft stores. As a pre-wash it helps prep the fabric. As a follow-up treatment, it will help the color to "set" better. It's pretty inexpensive and worth it in the long run. A little goes a looooooong way!